The Korean Presbyterian Church in America now Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad (changed name in 2012) is an independent

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

denomination in the United States. It was founded in 1976 as a union of 3

Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...

Presbyteries. The mother church was the

Presbyterian Church in Korea (TongHap) The Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap) is a mainline Protestant denomination based in South Korea; it currently has the second largest membership of any Presbyterian denomination in the world. It is affiliated with its daughter denomination, ...

. The church has close relationship with the

PC(USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

and the Korean Christian Church in Japan. In 2004 it had 29,000 members and 263 congregations. According to the recent statistics it has 55,000 members and 302 congregations. Official languages are English and Korean. The church uses the

Westminster Confession The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard ...

and the Apostles Creed. Since 2010 it formed an English speaking presbytery. KPCA is a member of the

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

. It is also a member of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America (NCCC in USA) and the Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT-USA).

Relationship with the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK)

KPCA started as a presbytery established by pastors with Presbyterian Church in Korea(PCK) backgrounds in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Therefore, KPCA has had a very close cooperative relationship with Korean PCK from the beginning. KPCA signed the 3rd mission agreement with PCK in 2016 following 1986 and 2006 to strengthen friendship between the two denominations in Korea and the United States, and exchange information on churches, mission consultations, mutual cooperation, personnel exchanges, Christian education and theological education. It is a denomination that cooperates in cooperation with theologians, exchanges of theologians, and education of the second generation.

Relationship with the Presbyterian Church (USA)

The “Covenant Relationship” of KPCA and

was formally passed by the Presbyterian Church (USA) at the 218th General Assembly, and after that, it was approved through 176 presbyteries and is included in the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Then, a specific agreement was reached on the Orderly Exchange of Ministers and the Order of transfer of Congregations. The executive committee, composed of representatives of both denominations, gathers every year to promote cooperative relations with both denominations, and jointly plan and hold pastoral exchanges (transfer and support) and events (education, ministry, second-generation leaders, etc.) promoted by both denominations.

Statistics

The Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad (KPCA) consists of 984 pastors, 22 Presbyteries, 470 local churches, and 81,383 members. The total Revenue of the Churches in the KPCA is $65,791,652 and the Budget of the General Assembly is $311,943.00 according to the Minutes of the 43th General Assembly held on May 7, 2019.

References

External links

Official websiteEnglish Presbytery
{{Authority control Christianity in the United States Members of the National Council of Churches Presbyterian denominations in the United States Korean-American culture